The present invention relates to systems for storing lengths of pipe in industries such as oil and gas drilling.
Oil and gas drilling operations require the availability of a number of lengths of pipe that are added sequentially to pipe strings in order to drill a well. Heretofore, many arrangements have been used for temporary storage of the pipes prior to use. The known arrangements present a number of drawbacks. Among these are that they do not create safe conditions for operating personnel, are difficult to use, particularly when several layers of pipe are to be stored, and allow removal of individual lengths of pipe only with difficulty.
The present invention provides a novel system that allows such pipes to be stored, even in several layers, and allows individual pipes to be removed, as needed, safely and easily.
According to the invention, pipe racks and strips for supporting additional layers of pipe are provided with novel and safe pipe stop devices that can easily be moved from a stop position to a retracted, or withdrawn, position, allowing removal of individual pipes. According to certain embodiments of the invention, movement from the stop position to the retracted position occurs in the direction away from a pipe in contact with the device, thereby facilitating operation of the device. According to other embodiments of the invention, the pipe stop is removed in order to permit removal of a length of pipe.
While elements 10, 12 and 14 have been illustrated to have a circular cross-section, it will be appreciated that they can have other cross-sections, such as square or rectangular. Alternatively, these elements can be in the form of I-beams provided with safety stop assemblies along their sides.
Pipe supporting element 14 is provided with a plurality of safety stop assemblies 20 spaced apart along the length of element 14, preferably at regular intervals. For example, assemblies 20 may be spaced apart at intervals of 5 to 8 feet.
Referring to
In
When a pipe is to be removed from the rack, pin 38 is withdrawn from the hole in the end of pin 34 and pin 34 is then withdrawn in order to allow stop member 22 to pivot downwardly, away from the pipe, into the retracted position shown at 22′ in
Preferably, one pipe stop assembly 20 can be installed at a distance of 6 inches from one end of tubular element 14 and the pipe rack can have a length of 20 to 30 feet and an overall height of only 18 to 48 inches.
The upper end of each member 22, i.e. the end that is remote from opening 24, is provided with a recess, or notch, 42 that constitutes a finger grip to aid displacement of member 22 from its retracted position to its stop position. Such displacement requires withdrawal of pin 34 and reinstallation of that pin after member 22 has been brought to its stop position.
Each assembly 20 is associated with a longitudinal slot 44 in the upper surface of element 14 to allow stop member 22 to pivot from its stop position to its retracted position.
A second component of the invention is shown in
Housing 50 may have a length of the order of 5 to 8 feet and may be joined to a further housing 70 that also carries a safety stop assembly 20. Housing 50 and 70 could be identical to one another. In order to join housings 50 and 70 together, housing 70 is provided with two fastening plates 74 that are welded to housing 70 and that have free ends insertable into the end of housing 50. Housing 50 is provided, in its two opposed vertical sides, with through openings 76 that will align with through openings in plates 74 to allow insertion of a pin that will hold housings 50 and 70 together in their assembled condition. Further identical housings can be connected in order to provide a strip having any desired length.
It will be appreciated that, within the framework of this invention, the housings could be fastened together in a wide variety of ways.
An important feature of embodiments of the invention resides in the fact that movement of pipe stop member 22 between its stop position and its retracted position is in a direction away from the pipes being held in place by stop member 22. This assures that movement of stop member 22 to its retracted position is not opposed by the force of a pipe, such as 60, against stop surface 40.
According to a further feature of the invention, the safety strips can be reinforced by inserting pieces of lumber or other rigid materials therein.
When several housings 80 are to be joined together to form an elongated strip, they will placed end-to-end and connected together by a suitable connecting piece such as connecting piece 88.
Connecting piece 88, in the illustrated embodiment, has a generally H-shaped form and is composed of two longitudinally extending side walls joined together by a crosspiece. Each side wall is provided with two through holes 90, the through holes in one side wall being aligned, along the longitudinal direction of the strip, with corresponding through holes in the other side wall.
To assemble two housings 80 together, one end of each housing is introduced into connecting piece 88 so that the housing end abuts against one side of the crosspiece, as shown for one housing 80 in
In order to retain the connection between connecting piece 88 and each housing 80, a pin 92, as shown in
The safety strip according to this embodiment is completed by a safety stop assembly composed of a pipe stop member 96 and another pin 92, as shown in
Each side wall 98 is provided with a through hole 106, the two through holes 106 being aligned with one another along the longitudinal direction of the strip. Stop part 102 is also provided with a through hole 108.
Stop member 96 is placed upon housing 80 at a desired location, with member 96 being oriented so that a pipe to be retained will bear against an inclined stop surface 110 of stop part 102.
Member 96 will be held in place by aligning through holes 106 with a selected pair of through holes 84 and then inserting a pin 92 through holes 84 and 106. Cable 96 may then be threaded through hole 108 and then secured in any suitable manner to the through hole 94 at the leading edge of pin 92.
Assembly 96 could also be dimensioned to be capable of being placed upon connecting part 88, in which case, pin 92 would be inserted through the associated pairs of holes 106, 90 and 84, to hold assembly 96 in place.
Preferably, elements 14, 50, 70 and 80 are positioned so that their pipe supporting surfaces are horizontal. This assures that when safety strip assemblies are retracted or removed to withdraw one pipe, the remaining pipes will not roll off and the stop assemblies can be returned to their stop positions.
This application relates to subject matter disclosed in U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/664,293, filed on Mar. 23, 2005, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
While the description above refers to particular embodiments of the present invention, it will be understood that many modifications may be made without departing from the spirit thereof. The accompanying claims are intended to cover such modifications as would fall within the true scope and spirit of the present invention.
The presently disclosed embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims, rather than the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.
The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Appln. No. 60/664,293, filed Mar. 23, 2005.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20060213847 A1 | Sep 2006 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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60664293 | Mar 2005 | US |